Write It Well

Hyphens are the glue of words. Some people make sculptures out of glue — and some people make sculptures out of hyphens. Here are some simple guidelines on keeping your hyphens in line:

For compound words, check the dictionary for the preferred form. As Jane Straus notes on grammarbook.com, you write “eye-opener” with a hyphen, but “eyewitness” as one word and “eye shadow” as two separate words. Only the dictionary will tell you if a compound has enough widespread use to take a hyphen or become one solid word.

We also use hyphens to fuse two-word adjectives:

• In the doorway stood a six-foot man.
• She put a half-empty glass on the table.
• The old woman dredged her memory for a once-forgotton tale.

Note that “half-empty glass” has a completely different meaning than “half empty glass,” which refers to half of an empty glass.

If you were to rearrange these phrases, though, and the adjectives no longer described a noun directly, you’d have to take the hyphen away. For example:

• The man stood six feet tall.
• Always the pessimist, she thought the glass was half empty.
• The tale was once forgotten, but my research unearthed it.

Tags: hyphen, Writing Skills

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